


In Which Haruno Sakura Gets The Short End Of The Stick

by Tozette



Series: Soulmate AU Challenge Fics [1]
Category: Naruto
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-11
Updated: 2018-12-11
Packaged: 2019-09-16 06:37:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 716
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16948881
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tozette/pseuds/Tozette
Summary: Prompt fic - Jiraiya is Sakura's soulmate.





	In Which Haruno Sakura Gets The Short End Of The Stick

**Author's Note:**

> I was talking to somebody about Jiraiya earlier today and abruptly remembered that I'd seen a copy of this prompt fill hanging out on my phone. (Am I ever going to stop finding things from tumblr that belong on AO3 and going 'oh, yeah...' ? :thinky face:)
> 
> Anyway, let me disclaim: **this is actually a prompt I filled way back in December 2015**.

Sakura, like anybody whose soul mate was alive at the time of her birth, was born with a soul mark.  
  
It was set low on the curve of her belly and it read: ‘Shit, there’s another one of you?’  
  
Sakura’s parents did not approve of the idea that her soul mate was a foul mouthed older person who was evidently disrespectful of strangers -- but it wasn’t like they could change it.  
  
“Don’t... show that to the other kids, okay?” murmured her father, patting her gently upon the head while he helped her zip up her dress for her first day at the academy.  
  
“Why not?” Sakura had asked, wide-eyed. Showing someone else a soul mark wasn’t weird or taboo. She’d seen her parents show theirs off often enough.  
  
“There’s, a, er, a rude word in it.”  
  
Sakura went to lift her dress and peer again at the familiar writing, but Kizashi pushed her hand gently away.  
  
“It’s not appropriate for public, alright.”  
  
She had frowned, chewed on her lower lip, and asked: “Does this mean my soul mate isn’t... appropriate for public?”  
  
He’d hesitated. “Not necessarily. Sometimes... Sometimes people behave badly in stressful circumstances.”

His expression remained dubious, though, and that communicated itself to Sakura as well. She decided that her dad definitely thought that Sakura's soul mate was not appropriate, either for her or for public consumption.  
  
That day, Sakura also met Ino.  
  
Ino-chan’s soul mark was in nearly-illegible script, written huge over her calf, and it read, 'Get the fuck outta my way, heathen bitch!’  
  
Sakura’s mother went faintly green around the edges when she quoted this to her later that afternoon. "So it's not that bad, really," she finished.  
  
“I... Well,” said Mebuki uncertainly, “goodness." And then she rallied. "At least _your_ soul mate has lovely calligraphy."

Sakura peered at her soul mark. The handwriting was formal, old-fashioned, and very beautiful. It looked like the work of somebody who had practised calligraphy a lot. "I guess."

"Well." Mebuki smoothed her hair with one hand. "That's nice, isn't it?"  
  
Sakura squinted at her mother. _Her_ soul mark, of course, said ‘It’s lovely to meet you, Mebuki-san,’ so it was no wonder she didn’t quite understand.

Even if it was rude, Sakura decided, at least nobody was calling her names. So at five, Sakura quietly concluded that there were worse soul marks in the world and put it out of her mind - much to the relief of her parents.

 

* * *

  
At fifteen, Sakura stumbled upon some gross old man hiding in the bushes outside a woman’s-only hot springs.  
  
She clenched one fist.  
  
Chakra rose under her skin, heating, steaming and curling up from her circulatory system in the humid air. Her eyes gleamed faintly but unmistakably, predatory in the quiet.  
  
Gross Old Man-san was evidently a ninja, because he flinched and whirled, spiky white hair flaring out around him, but, oh, it was much too late. Sakura punched him in the face and sent him flying into -- and then through -- the stone wall of the hot springs administrative building.  
  
Inside, someone yelped, and then shrieked.  
  
Sakura stalked in through the brand new hole in the wall, ignoring the crumbling stone even when a chip glanced off her shoulder. On the other side of the quaint reception room the pervert was collapsed against the wall, eyes dramatically aswirl.  
  
“Excuse me,” Sakura said, sweetly and pleasantly, to the receptionist, who was clutching a daily planner to her chest and inching out from behind her sturdy desk. She looked at the man, looked back at Sakura, and nodded rapidly.  
  
Sakura tugged on her glove, drawing it more tightly down upon her arm, and gave Gross Old Man-san a few seconds to compose himself so he could really _appreciate_ the beating she was about to administer.  
  
“Shit,” he said, finally, blinking at her. His recovery was almost alarmingly swift, but he did look appropriately distressed by his circumstances. “There’s _another_ one of you.”  
  
Sakura paused. Then she touched the palm of one of her hands to her belly, thinking about the beautiful, fluid calligraphy sitting there.  
  
“My father was right about you,” she muttered.  
  
And then at least she had the intense satisfaction of seeing his eyes go impossibly wide before she punted him right through the other wall, too.  
  
 

**Author's Note:**

> This _does_ mean that Jiraiya's soul mark says 'my father was right about you'. There are probably more stressful soul marks but, like... few.
> 
> (I actually think these two would be kind of fun to play off each other as characters.)


End file.
